The US supports quantum networking research through the Department of Energy\u2019s national laboratories, university-led testbeds, and defense-relevant networking experiments. On both sides of the Atlantic, quantum secure communications\u00a0represent\u00a0a giant opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet quantum also\u00a0represents\u00a0a potential danger.\u00a0Once sufficiently powerful quantum computers exist, many current public-key encryption schemes could be broken. Adversaries such as China\u00a0are already\u00a0harvesting<\/a>\u00a0encrypted data, with the intent of decrypting it later.\u00a0<\/p>\n The US government has made quantum-safe encryption a legal and strategic requirement. Federal agencies are mandated to\u00a0identify\u00a0vulnerable systems and transition to\u00a0quantum-resistant encryption standards,<\/a>\u00a0with a government-wide compliance deadline of 2035. The\u00a0March 2026 National Cyber Strategy<\/a>\u00a0elevated quantum-safe encryption to a core pillar of national security alongside AI defense.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tGet the Latest\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSign up to receive regular Bandwidth emails and stay informed about CEPA’s work.\t\t<\/p>\n Defense contractors are on the strictest timeline, obliged to meet quantum-resistant standards by 2027. Banks, energy companies, and other critical infrastructure operators are also on notice. The message from Washington is clear: the transition to quantum-safe encryption is no longer a future problem. It is an active national security priority.\u00a0<\/p>\n Europe has similarly made crypto-agility a policy priority. In April 2024, the European Commission\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0a roadmap for the transition to post-quantum cryptography.\u00a0\u00a0Each EU country must put\u00a0national strategies and inventories in place by\u00a0end\u00a0of this year and\u00a0complete\u00a0broad migration\u00a0by 2035.\u00a0The financial sector is explicitly in scope. Regulators expect banks and financial institutions to be quantum-ready for core systems within the next five years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While quantum computing dominates headlines, quantum sensing may deliver some of the earliest consequential impacts. Quantum sensors exploit quantum mechanical effects to measure time, gravity, magnetic fields, and acceleration with extraordinary precision, far beyond what classical instruments can achieve.\u00a0<\/p>\n These capabilities are already in use or under active operational development:\u00a0<\/p>\n Navigation in GPS-denied environments.\u00a0Quantum inertial navigation systems\u00a0maintain\u00a0positional accuracy without satellite signals, a critical capability in contested or jamming-heavy theaters.\u00a0<\/p>\n Subsurface detection and geophysical surveying.\u00a0Quantum gravimeters can detect underground structures, tunnels, and infrastructure from the surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advanced timing for communications and financial systems.\u00a0Quantum clocks offer precision that underpins secure synchronization across networks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Enhanced detection for defense and intelligence missions.\u00a0Quantum magnetometers can detect submarines or buried objects at ranges\u00a0that\u00a0classical sensors cannot match.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both the US and Europe have active quantum sensing programs embedded in defense research, space exploration, and critical infrastructure planning. The United Kingdom\u2019s Ministry of Defense has\u00a0invested<\/a>\u00a0in quantum timing and navigation as part of its Future Navigation program. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0quantum-enhanced sensing under multiple programs aimed at military advantage in contested environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lesson here is consistent: quantum advantage does not require a universal quantum computer. It requires\u00a0identifying\u00a0where quantum effects outperform classical\u00a0systems and deploying accordingly.\u00a0<\/p>\n None of\u00a0this\u00a0diminishes the long-term significance of quantum computing itself. Universal, fault-tolerant quantum computers could transform\u00a0materials\u00a0science, drug discovery,\u00a0logistics, and financial modeling. Governments are right to invest seriously and benchmark claims rigorously.\u00a0<\/p>\n But focusing exclusively on future quantum computers risks missing the more immediate reality. Quantum networking changes how trust is\u00a0established. Post-quantum cryptography changes how data is protected. Quantum sensing\u00a0changes\u00a0how environments are measured and contested. Together, these technologies form a stack, one that is being built now, beneath the surface of the headline race for qubit counts.\u00a0<\/p>\n The countries that treat quantum as a distant science project may eventually\u00a0acquire\u00a0powerful machines, but they will do so atop fragile systems. Those that treat quantum as a present-day enabler are already hardening infrastructure, shaping international standards, and training workforces attuned to a quantum-enabled world.\u00a0<\/p>\n The real divide is not between quantum leaders and laggards. It is between those who recognize quantum as a foundational capability today, and those\u00a0who are\u00a0still waiting for it to arrive. Quantum may not yet be a general-purpose computing tool. But as a skeleton key to future security, resilience, and competitiveness, it is already operational.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alicia Chavy is a Vice President at Beacon Global Strategies, a National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and a Board Member of the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. She specializes in national security, emerging technology policy, and geopolitical risk, with a particular focus on AI, quantum innovation, and emerging tech adoption. She holds a BS\u00a0in Foreign Service and an MA\u00a0in Security Studies from Georgetown University.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bandwidth<\/a> is CEPA\u2019s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions expressed on Bandwidth are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.\u00a0CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n A Roadmap for Europe-US Tech Cooperation<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\tRead More From Bandwidth\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCEPA\u2019s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy.\t\t<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2025-06-24T112737Z_784609940_RC2Y8FALP42Q_RTRMADP_3_GERMANY-QUANTUM-TECHNOLOGY-scaled.jpg\"\/)
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